Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Royal Mail: Standards

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Royal Mail since its privatisation.

Kevin Hollinrake: Royal Mail is accountable to Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector, for its performance against its universal service obligations. Ofcom continues to monitor Royal Mail’s performance to ensure it is providing the best service it can to customers, and publishes an annual report summarising its monitoring programme on its website: www.ofcom.org.uk/postal-services/information-for-the-postal-industry/monitoring_reports.

Green Homes Grant Scheme: Lancaster and Fleetwood

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many homes were retrofitted as a result of the Green Homes Grant in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: Information on the number of households with at least one measure installed by parliamentary constituency under the Green Homes Grant Voucher scheme can be found in table 4.4 accompanying the latest release. Information on the number of households upgraded by parliamentary constituency under the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme can be found in table 11 accompanying the latest release.

Energy Bills Rebate

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to support people with prepayment meters who have not yet received an Energy Bill Support Scheme voucher.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of the Energy Bill Support Scheme for prepayment customers.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what percentage of prepayment customers had received their Energy Bills Support Scheme voucher by 30 November 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Government is monitoring effectiveness of the scheme closely, including receiving monthly data from energy suppliers. 4,044,554 vouchers were issued to 1 December. The latest figures were published on gov.uk on 20 December. Redemption of vouchers issued to traditional prepayment meter customers rose from 59% in October to 72% in November. The Government requires suppliers to evidence that they have attempted to make a minimum of three attempts by more than one method to contact customers who have not redeemed a voucher. Customers with smart prepayment meters receive the discount credited directly to their meter by their supplier.

Energy Bills Rebate

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had recent discussions with energy suppliers on taking steps to support people with prepayment meters who have not yet received an Energy Bill Support Scheme voucher.

Graham Stuart: On 4 December 2022, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all energy suppliers with customers on traditional prepayment meters reiterating the importance of ensuring these customers receive their vouchers and exhorting them to ensure customers receive prompt service and accurate information. I then met CEOs of supplier companies on 7 December to press them further and hear about ongoing improvements.

Energy Bills Rebate: Edinburgh North and Leith

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers have been issued to people on prepayment meters in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

Graham Stuart: The Government does not hold constituency data.

Wind Power

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on how many days did wind power provide less than 10 per cent of UK electricity output in 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold daily electricity generation data. However, for the Public Distribution System in Great Britain only, Elexon’s figures show that up to 20th December, there were 64 days in 2022 where generation from wind provided less than 10 per cent of total generation. This excludes net imports from interconnectors. Source: Elexon half-hourly balancing mechanism reports, available at: https://www2.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=generation/fueltype

Wind Power: Subsidies

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much has been paid to wind generators in subsidies in 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Government supports wind generators through a number of schemes. Finalised data for total payments made in 2022 are not yet available.

Wind Power

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much was spent on National Grid constraint payments to wind generators in 2022.

Graham Stuart: The National Grid Electricity System Operator publishes data on the costs and volumes of electricity system balancing services monthly. This includes a breakdown of constraint costs by fuel type, including wind farms. The total amount paid to wind generators for 2022 has not yet been finalised. Further detail on wind farm payments paid in October can be found in The National Grid Electricity System Operator’s monthly Balancing Services Summary.Monthly Balancing Services Summary 2022/23 October (pdf, 1445.6KB)

Nuclear Power Stations: Closures

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has reviewed the planned dates for the closure of nuclear powers stations; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of postponing the closure dates on the safety of those stations.

Graham Stuart: The continued operation of, and any extensions to, operational dates for any UK nuclear power station is a decision for the operator, EDF, and the independent nuclear regulator, the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR), based on safety and commercial considerations. If the ONR has any safety concerns, they will not let the reactor return to service unless and until those concerns have been satisfactorily addressed and may require more regular shutdowns for ongoing review. Operational dates are kept under constant review by EDF and the ONR.

Coal Fired Power Stations

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the amount of coal generating capacity could be made available on stand by notices.

Graham Stuart: Upon agreement between the Electricity System Operator and coal operators, there are 3 coal plants still operating in Great Britain with contingency contracts until March 2023. This totals approximately 2.4GW of capacity which can be called upon if needed for the purposes of security of supply.

Offshore Industry: Licensing

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list the gas fields that gained production licences in 2022.

Graham Stuart: While the 33rd UK Offshore Licensing Round opened in October, awards for licences under this round will not be made until next year. Awards under the previous, 32nd licensing round were made in 2020. There have therefore not been any awards for new licences in 2022. Oil and gas fields, after being licensed, require several consents issued by regulators, such as Development and Production Consents granted by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) before they can begin production. Several fields have received these consents in 2022. A full list of these consents can be found on the NSTA’s website: https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/data-centre/data-downloads-and-publications/field-data/.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Department's publication of ministerial overseas travel data for July to September 2022, what the cost was of the plane tickets for the former Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth’s journeys to and from (a) New Mexico, USA from 20-26 August 2022 and (b) Bali, Indonesia from 27 August to 3 September 2022.

Graham Stuart: The cost of plane tickets for the former Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth’s journeys to and from (a) New Mexico, USA from 20-26 August 2022 and (b) Bali, Indonesia from 27 August to 3 September are shown in the table below.  (a)(b)Cost of Plane tickets£5,618.56 (Fare paid + Tax)£6,351.46  (Fare paid + Tax)

Heating Oil: North West

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made on the availability of heating oil in the North West of England.

Graham Stuart: The supply of heating oil remains sufficient to meet demand in the UK. The Government enjoys a robust supply chain for heating oil, with around 500 local distribution depots across the nation and with demand being met by a combination of domestic refinery production and imports. The Government remains in regular contact with UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA), the trade association for the industry, who report that most customers will have at least 4 different distributors within a 25-mile radius. UKIFDA have a ‘find a distributor’ function on their website (https://ukifda.org/find-a-distributor/).

Renewable Energy: Heating

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of providing additional support to households with renewable energy heating systems in the context of the rise in the cost of wood pellets.

Graham Stuart: The Government has doubled support to £200 for households using alternative fuels, including those using wood pellets, in recognition of the pressures caused by these rising fuel costs. The Government is committed to continued monitoring of prices over the coming months and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.

Post Offices: Energy

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Post Offices with the cost of energy after 31 March 2023; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of energy costs on the risk of (a) redundancies of staff, (b) reductions in opening hours and (c) closures of Post Offices in the next 12 months.

Graham Stuart: HM Treasury is currently conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and evidence regarding the impact of energy costs on post offices is included in that. However, the Government cannot confirm details on further support after 31st March 2023 until the end of the review, which will report in January 2023.

Hydrogen: Heating

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has formed a policy position on hydrogen heating in the home.

Graham Stuart: The Government is coordinating a range of projects with industry, regulators and others to help assess the feasibility costs and benefits of using 100% hydrogen for heat. This will help ensure the necessary information is available to take decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in heat decarbonisation.

Energy: Prices

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of energy prices rises on public sector leisure.

Graham Stuart: The Government recognises the impact rising energy prices is having on both domestic and non-domestic consumers, including public sector leisure. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is available to all eligible non-domestic energy customers, including businesses, charities and the public sector, and will provide a discount on the wholesale costs of gas and electricity. This includes public sector leisure on eligible non-domestic energy supply contracts.

Treasury

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2022 to Question 74675 on Research: Tax Allowances, whether he plans to increase staff capacity on the R&amp;D Anti Abuse Unit team.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC is committed to tackling error and fraud within the R&D reliefs including announcing the new Anti Abuse Team being operational from April 2023. As part of our response to the criminal attack in April 2022, HMRC accelerated the formation of the Anti Abuse Team ahead of the April 2023 commitment. But resource is only part of the package of measures. In Autumn 2021, the Government announced changes to the R&D tax reliefs, including additional information and claims requirements to address abuse and boundary-pushing. At Autumn Statement 2022 the Chancellor announced that as part of as part of the ongoing R&D tax reliefs review, the Government is reforming the R&D tax reliefs to ensure taxpayer’s money is spent as effectively as possible, improve the competitiveness of the RDEC scheme, and take a step towards a simplified, single RDEC-like scheme for all.

North Sea Oil: Shetland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the Rosebank oil field development on tax receipts in the next ten years.

Victoria Atkins: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast at Autumn Statement 2022 estimates revenues from Energy Profits Levy are expected to be £41.6 billion over the next six years. Total UK oil and gas revenues over this period are forecast to be around £80 billion. A full breakdown of revenues for all North Sea oil taxes (including Ring-Fence Corporation Tax and Petroleum Revenue Tax) can be found in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook published by the OBR in November 2022. OBR forecasts for oil and gas revenues do not separate out specific projects or taxpayers.